dev diary: syrup 10th anniversary plans

there's a bunch of info to share so i'll summarize up top:

• STEAM RELEASE for syrup 1 september 30th

• PUBLIC DEMO for syrup 2 in october for steam next fest (trailer above)

• EARLY ACCESS for syrup 2 begins halloween

• store pages for both games will be live on wednesday! (8/20)

• a special PATRON EARLY ACCESS build will be released as soon as i finish all the new content i wanted for it, that will definitely be posted before halloween!

so is syrup 2 done???

no. BUT IT'S GETTING CLOSE????? so i thought giving myself a deadline will help me make it to the end. i'm going to get as much done as possible for the early access build, and then i'm sure i'll get lots of feedback which will keep me thinking about how to improve the game, and then... we can reach the end credits together...!! or something, haha.

what about treat updates?????? ;o;

development on LWT is still paused..... to put it bluntly, i am stuck. it feels like there's still a lot left to do for treat and i am intimidated by the thought of working on it. i get like this sometimes, and the only thing to do is to just give myself time until i get so fed up with it not being done that i just finish the rest in one go.

i wanted to try early access for syrup 2 because it felt like it made sense to, as a project ive been sitting on since uhhh 2018...? i want more people to be able to play it, and it feels like it's in a stable enough place that your save file won't completely break for every new build ;;; and there's so much good content!! gah!!!!!! meanwhile, LWT has technically been in early access from the beginning... so i'm saving the steam release for that until the project is actually fully done.

so... yeah, ideally i would just be able to finish treat first, since that's the order i was intending people would play the games in... but i don't want to end up pushing syrup 2 back another 2 years or something..... SO I'M GOING FOR IT!!! (sorry treat!!!!!) (also the order doesn't actually matter, there's only a bit of story overlap with no real spoilers)

OK SYRUP 2 PROGRESS THO

last week i showed you guys the title screen art, and it’s getting closer to being done now!

i still haven't colored periwinkle BUT LOOK AT THYME AND SPICE!! AWW!!!!

the demo content is only going to include everything up to mt sorbet (similar to the original demo i released to patrons 5 years ago), so for the demo release i'm only showing the 5 main characters in the promotional materials…

so cute!!!!! very happy with how it's coming along so far.

once the full illustration is done i might update all the promo art… cuz i do want people to see that theres a ton of characters, this game is really packed full of good stuff hehe. that's something for either when early access launches, or when the full game is done (just to make it look obvious something big has changed) idk! i'm excited tho.

last week i set up the store pages, then on saturday i made trailers, and then finally i spent all of yesterday working on the actual game!!!!!! mostly ui improvements LOL so now im upset the trailer won't match the release, but thats' kind of the point anyway.. (who cares...)

there's little tabs in the menu now!!! (ignore the guide button that's not real)

i updated the shop screen a lot too!!!!!! (i love these little tabs hehe)

and this screen too!!!!!

i mean i'm still working on these, but... they've come a long way so far!! the shop screens were some of the first ones i made when i started working on this game, so i'm happy i can polish them up... (and then after this i don't have to mess with them again!!! omg)

did i mention you can check your inventory from the map??? i added that a while ago, but now you can also check item details when you click on them and update your memo and stuff

the memo stuff still needs a lot of work. i'm gonna make that pencil button open a menu to change the paper design... originally it was tied to which title you have equipped, but i want to pick my favorite and unlock new designs with the titles instead.

i was trying to make it so you can only cross off items if you click a button to edit the list but i was having trouble with it (GRRR) and then the tooltips were also giving me trouble (DOUBLE GRRRRR) but i gotta move on and code more important things... this is the kind of polish stuff player feedback is gonna help a lot with i think.

alright i think that's everything

i know this menu stuff probably isn't that exciting to see but i'm really proud of it haha, next i can get back to some of the unfinished story content so i can finally give you guys the updated build i promised!!!

thanks for sticking around, i'm so sorry it apparently takes me a decade to finish larger projects. here's hoping all my syrup plans go smoothly so we can have fun celebrating the 10 year anniversary wahhhh!!!!!

<3 nami